*** AMD "Zen" thread (inc AM4/APU discussion) ***

[IvanDobskey]

To a point. I still think you really want a minimum of 4 threads for modern games, though.

You definitely want at least 4 threads for modern gaming. The extra threads of an i7 are only just starting to be utilised though.

 

[danoliver1]

All aboard the hype train stopping at Hope city, lastchanceforamd central, last stop DisappointmentVille.

 

[labbby]

The CPU benchmarks at GameGPU (they normally include a CPU section for each game) benchmarks are starting to show otherwise most of the time. A fast 4 thread+ CPU is often 'enough' to make all recent games playable but looking at the top of the charts there's been a shift in favour of more cores / threads.

i7s consistently outperform i5s. AMD octacore FXs are often finding themselves competitive with and sometimes beating i5s that they couldn't have got near a few years ago. There is a transition going on towards more efficiently threaded games and it looks to me like Ryzen has turned up at just the right time to take advantage.

See i am getting really confused with all this "not many games use multi core" talk. I went from 4 core to 6 core and have always noticed the games i play using all the cores. Unless i am missing something here.

Frostbite engine loves more cores so that gives current games i play an advantage of more cores.

BF4, Battlefront, BF1

Other games i play that have taken advantage of more cores.

Doom (Vulkcan), GTAV, The Division (DX12), Rise of the Tomb Raider (DX12), Hitman (Dx12)

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Please tell me these games you play that only use single core ?

im really confused with the games i play these days, i am guessing openhardwaremonitor is lying to me every time i am gaming.

The CPU benchmarks at GameGPU (they normally include a CPU section for each game) benchmarks are starting to show otherwise most of the time. A fast 4 thread+ CPU is often 'enough' to make all recent games playable but looking at the top of the charts there's been a shift in favour of more cores / threads.

i7s consistently outperform i5s. AMD octacore FXs are often finding themselves competitive with and sometimes beating i5s that they couldn't have got near a few years ago. There is a transition going on towards more efficiently threaded games and it looks to me like Ryzen has turned up at just the right time to take advantage.

You can't win with some - I posted a picture from the Digital Foundry review of the Core i7 7700K showing how their own review suite showed how the Core i7 CPUs were better than the Core i5 CPUs,and that website is part of Eurogamer,a GAMING website. They ignore the consoles have 8 cores.

They ignore that the Ryzen quad core and six core SKUs look like they will massively undercut the Intel ones,and IF AMD can hit at least Haswell level IPC(or better),it does mean Intel will need to drop prices.
I am sure on forums people will try to justify spending £250 to £350 on a Intel quad core,so they will keep showing off Super PI and FS X results,and they are on purpose doing it since,it means in a few years time they can talk of an upgrade path to a six core Intel consumer desktop CPU with a new motherboard instead of a simple drop in upgrade.

I made that list earlier - six and eight cores are not important since Intel lacks them on a consumer platform. Expect when Intel Coffee Lake is released,suddenly the six core SKU will be the best thing for gaming!!

 

[woppy101]

I will most likely be jumping ship to AMD,for me AMD has until recently be the better value for money than intel

 

[Bonjour]

Ooh. GTAV will be an interesting one. That brought my 8320 to its knees and prompted me to upgrade to a 4790k.

 

[Yutang13]

Woo. Asrock and MSI boards are up now. A £80 B350 board hey? Don't feel the OCing will be too great on a board that looks like it has a 3 phase cpu VRM

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Remember,a few weeks ago we had this discussion about single core performance - in certain games which are bottlenecked it does not mean magically you will get better performance with MOAR MHZ even on Intel. An example is PS2 - even a fellow forum member on here mentioned that they upgraded from an overclocked SB Core i7 to an overclocked Skylake Core i7 and the game still runs a bit meh during intensive scenes. This is why the obsession about MOAR MHZ does not really work with a number of games based on older engines as throwing hardware at them really is a money pit.

Its one thing when you have a massive discrepancy in single core performance,but once it is within 20% or so,it makes less difference.

Remember all the arguing about the Phenom II X4 and the Core2 quad. Technically the former had the edge when overclocked but realistically none of them have lasted longer than each other,and the Phenom II X4 tended to be cheaper too.

Most people are GPU limited,so that money saved on the CPU is better spent on a graphics card!!

 

[Hagar]

Although I have built many Intel boxes to order, I have mainly used AMD at home. Now there is a huge choice of what to buy and for what purpose. Most people would be suited with a 4.0GHz Broadwell/Haswell level IPC CPU I would expect and That is what I need. I use mainly productivity software with light gaming on an RX470 GPU.
At least summer is in the offing and I can dispense with my FX9590 warming my feet. Next winter though may need a heater. I am waiting on an investment coming home before I decide which one to go for.

 

[Chrisc]

More boards are now up for pre-order. The asrock x370 at the £150 mark seems to be a good shout.

 

[AlamoX]

this is what happens when yields are too good.
6core in april/may, 4 cores will come after Vega probably june/july

 

[Relentless81]

Gutted Ryzen 5 is Q2, going to have to wait but on the plus side the bench marks for it should be out next week so gives me more time to plan my build

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

this is what happens when yields are too good.
6core in april or may, 4 cores will come after Vega probably june/july

Hopefully by the time the Ryzen 5 is released they will get some mini-ITX motherboards out!!

Edit!!

Ryzen 5 also covers the 4C/8T models too.

 

[MDPlatts]

See i am getting really confused with all this "not many games use multi core" talk. I went from 4 core to 6 core and have always noticed the games i play using all the cores. Unless i am missing something here.)

That is just your windows scheduler spreading the load around. What is really the issue here is using all cores equally up until all reach 100% utilization. You will be seeing large variations between them going up/down all the time but whilst one is going down others are going up. You need all to go up at the same time and down together too.

 

[five8five]

Gutted Ryzen 5 is Q2, going to have to wait but on the plus side the bench marks for it should be out next week so gives me more time to plan my build

Are they definitely out next week or is it just for the 7?

 

[Erik13]

What is Ryzen 5 ?

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What is Ryzen 5 ?

The 4C/8T and 6C/12T parts. They will be targeting Intel Core i5 pricing.

Leaks hint that a 4C/8T unlocked part with 3.9GHZ boost clocks/probably 4.0GHZ XFR clocks at least is targeting the locked Core i5 7500/7600.

Edit!!

Looked at the leak again - the top 4C/8T pricing is meant to be Core i5 7500 level and the lowest end 6C/12T SKU is meant to be Core i5 7600 level.

Hopefully this will be true and AMD has at least Haswell level IPC in games.

 

[labbby]

That is just your windows scheduler spreading the load around. What is really the issue here is using all cores equally up until all reach 100% utilization. You will be seeing large variations between them going up/down all the time but whilst one is going down others are going up. You need all to go up at the same time and down together too.

Yep i should have explained i knew that, BF1 they do indeed go up and down at the same time the same with doom and so on. I haven't seen random spikes and decreases across the cores in a long time.

A massive thing i Noticed with BF1 when it comes from going from a 4c to 6c is how much faster the game renders objects at distance. On the 4c i would get pop in objects all the time but with 6c it doesn't happen that often at all.

Is this core argument purely on the extra fps games get or overall quality ?

 

[Scottland]

Has anyone got a link to a decent comparison between X370 and B350?

 

[jigger]

I know this lot on here don't know what they want... Well they do everything.. High cores, Ht or similar, great ipc, great single core,strong Imc, many pcx lanes, high oc, cool running, great nvme and storage support native and cheap as chips!! With haribo in every delivery... Leave the last one to us...

I think you're out of touch with what people want TBH.